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City News in 250 words: Thursday 18 March

Four left at Channel M, Old Trafford’s booze-free zone and Heaton Park sports complex objections

Published on March 18th 2010.

CHANNEL M LATEST HEADCOUNT DOWN TO FOUR: Broadcasting of the evening magazine show will cease from Friday, leaving a skeleton technical staff of four. Traffic, networked news and archive material will be shown without any more original news features. The Guardian Media Group (GMG) has been unable to get rid of the struggling television station since selling the MEN in February.

BOOZE-FREE ZONE AT UNITED V LIVERPOOL MATCH: Fans could be fined £50 for refusing to hand over alcohol to police outside Old Trafford after a Drink-Free zone is introduced. One chief said the “majority of fans behave impeccably” and that measures are aimed “to help make the occasion a safe and enjoyable one.”

LEGAL OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED FOOTBALL COMPLEX AT HEATON PARK: A campaign group against plans for thirteen floodlit football pitches, a caged football area, a climbing wall, tennis and netball courts, and a pavilion to be built at the Grade II listed park, have asked for the decision to be reviewed. Manchester City Council has already approved the plans last month despite over 10,000 objections.

OBJECTIONS TO CUTTING A QUARTER OF NHS BEDS: The chief executive of Salford Royal- the country's top performing trust- has raised concerns over the proposals as part of the drive to save £950m by 2014. He argued that services needs to be redesigned and that beds cannot simply be cut. Recent non-party reform report has put pressure on the NHS, blaming the public sector's structural deficit on their sustained over-spending.

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